Wednesday's postcard, and Kamala Harris's voice, and choice

August 7, 2024

Elephant Mountain (basalt) palisade, near Othello, WA, with the Saddle Mountains in the distance

“What kind of country do we want to live in?” she asked.

First, an embarrassing confession. Three weeks ago I had no idea who Tim Walz was. In the way these things sometimes work, my sister in Alaska told my sister in Grays Harbor County, who alerted me. To which I had a very thoughtful reply.

“Huh.”

I’m a big Gretchen Whitmer fan. Whitmer’s been the governor of Michigan since 2019 and governs with grace and grit on the front lines of the battle of American militancy. The militancy part is not of her choice. In 2020 it came to visit her, and her family (she is married, with two daughters and three stepsons) when an undercover informant alerted the FBI to a plot by members of a Michigan militia group to capture and kill her. Their wrath was/is related to her political effectiveness. She is smart, funny, and demonstrably brave. In short, I was hoping she would be interested in the vice presidency. She’s wasn’t.

But back to Tim Walz. Who the heck is Tim Walz?

Fortunately, I know someone who would know and because he’s related to me he (eventually) has to call me back. This would be my invaluable 25-year-old son, Devin, and I got him on the second ring. And, boy, did he know of Tim Walz, and, wow, was he ever rooting for him. I was struck by his enthusiasm.

At first blush, what’s not to like? His name is Tim; he’s a balding guy, in his sixties, and an ex-football coach. That’s also a chunk of my profile, although his credentials impressively pile on from there, to being an excellent amateur auto mechanic, a six-term member of Congress, and popular Governor of Minnesota for the past five years. I’m a bit embarrassed to have missed this especially since his state nearly borders on Governor Whitmer’s.

Vice President Kamala Harris introducing Tim Walz to an amped-up crowd in Philadephia Tuesday.

I was working on my notes for an upcoming story, yesterday, when I opened my laptop just in time to hear most of Kamala Harris’s speech, in Philadelphia, introducing Walz. I’ve been struck, this year, by Harris’s transformation. She did have her moments in the Senate, especially using her skills as a prosecutor to cross-examine witnesses in Senate hearings. But her voice as vice president seemed to be that of a California progressive (which she is) trying to avoid slip-ups or controversies that might rub off on President Biden.

Then came the Supreme Court’s decision, two years ago, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, otherwise known as the decision that repealed the half-century old federal right to an abortion. Working to restore that right—and highlight the cruelties of a post-Dobbs world on women’s reproductive health care—became her signature project. It was dramatic, how she seemed to find her confidence and voice in that assignment. Before, her public speeches seemed to trail off in tentative, almost wistful loops. But, at least to my ear, her voice became much clearer, sharper, and passionate, such that when she emerged as the obvious choice after Biden’s agonized decision to withdraw from his 2024 re-election campaign, I was pleased. It is her time.

Yesterday I was hearing her speech coming from the other side of the room, but clear enough that some 20 minutes in, she gave me goosebumps.

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